The Seventh Stone (55 page)

“
And yet Gabriella was the one who set this catastrophe in motion,” said Contreras, “simply by trying to stop it. Then, in Arizona, your finding that artifact prompted me to have to try to take it from you. Agent Fox, here, told his superior about my involvement. Of course, Mister Rambitskov was kind enough to provide a fake alibi, but the risk of exposure became too great. We had to act. Rambitskov wanted the poison proven as the perfect weapon of mass destruction, so that he could fund his precious Homeland Security department, protect the nation from the fanatics.”

“
Takes one to know one,” Braydon grumbled.

“
You cannot deny the divine signs,” Contreras pressed. “The cliff dwelling revealed, the Emerald salvaged, the Kohinoor diamond and Edward’s sapphire successfully purloined, the G-20 meeting, even as we speak, in New York,.” He raised his arms upward. “I am the Prophet. My followers around the world await my missive upon restoring the Breastplate. I know now, more than ever, that God is calling me to reveal His wisdom, to bring peace to His world.”

“
World peace?” said Christa. “You want world domination.”

“
That I have nearly obtained,” said Contreras, grabbing the air with his fists. “Within an hour of the New York stock exchange opening bell tomorrow morning I will become one of the richest men in the world. I came into a large amount of capital this weekend. In fact, I had my investor from Abu Dhabi throw in this Flying Carpet II yacht as a bonus. I was prescient enough to short the market. As the market plunges, my fortune will skyrocket. Before the feds can place a stop on trading, I will have transferred it all, under my shadow corporation, of course, into an account that is untouchable. With that wealth and the power of the Breastplate, I will, in fact, dominate the world.”

“
What’s left of it,” said Braydon. A plan was forming in his head, but his brain was so exhausted, he wasn’t sure if it made sense.

“
All I am giving to the people is what they are yearning for,” Contreras said. “Something to believe in.”

Braydon turned to Adam, still behind the bar. He scanned the bottles lined neatly up on the shelf behind the hippie. All top shelf liquor, all topped with a silver pourer, their pointy spouts like royal guard helmets. “Scotch, rocks,” he said.

Adam looked to Contreras, who nodded. “Agent Fox,” said Contreras, as Adam dropped cubes with silver tongs into the crystal glass on the bar. “Speaking of rocks, thank you so much for taking the trouble to acquire them for me. I knew you would succeed.”

“
Which is why you sent your dog, Rambo, after them,” said Braydon. He grabbed the bottle from Adam’s hand, poured his own Scotch. It trickled like liquid gold from the silver spout.

“
A wise man must have contingencies,” said Contreras.

So true. “I suppose you’ll kill us if we don’t give them to you.”

“
I may kill you even if you do,” said Contreras, “but both of you have proven yourselves worthy of a place in my new empire. Just as I promised, Professor Devlin, your niece is home. I allowed her to be rescued. Cooperate with me and she will be truly safe, along with all the others. I do prefer to avoid bloodshed unless it is necessary. I am a peaceful man.” Contreras sat back down in the plush lounge chair, shifting his weight, leaning back. “You both know as well as I do that I am in the best position to restore the Breastplate and find the antidote,” he said. “It is my destiny. I am the chosen one.”

“
Chosen by whom is the question,” said Braydon.

“
The question you should be asking yourselves,” said Contreras. “You have been haunted by phantoms, nearly crushed beneath a cathedral, half drowned in the desert, and attacked by mythical Skinwalkers. Don’t you see that a higher being is trying to stop you?”

“
Good point,” said Braydon, eyeing the silver spout on the Scotch bottle, judging if it was strong enough.

“
Braydon,” said Christa, “you can’t possibly believe him.”

“
Christa, you expect me to believe that these stones have a supernatural power,” he said, “an energy, and when replaced in this Biblical Breastplate, they will create a direct connection to God. Solve the mystery of life after death. All Contreras is saying is that you’re right. Something else, something extraterrestrial, is at work here.”

“
As in divine?” she said. “Consider this. The phantoms in New York seemed to be shoving the two men into a fight. It distracted the police so we could get away. We weren’t crushed beneath Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, but shown an escape route. The flash flood saved us from the men who were chasing us. The Skinwalkers killed those who would kill us.”

“
All I care about is getting the antidote,” he said, the Scotch hot on his dry throat. “Saving those people. Saving your nephew.”

“
Agent Fox, you and I seek the same goal,” said Contreras. “You’ve done enough. You’re injured, exhausted. Even if you did find the Breastplate before me, it would do you no good without all seven of the missing sacred stones.” He leaned forward, reaching for the silver Halliburton briefcase on the coffee table. He opened the case, and rotated it so that Braydon and Christa could see its contents. “The Kohinoor Diamond and Edward’s Sapphire. Two of the most famous and stunningly beautiful gems in the world.”

Contreras’s diamond and sapphire were stunning. Braydon couldn’t tell the difference between the fakes in the briefcase and the authentic diamond and sapphire that he had taken from Jared’s hotel room, the gems that were wrapped in a linen napkin in Christa’s daypack. Jared had been a master, and Braydon had to control his rage at Contreras’s brutal attack on the jeweler. “But even the Kohinoor and Edward’s Sapphire find their true glory only with their peers.” He poured himself another Scotch. “The Breastplate can only be restored if one man has all seven sacred stones.”

Contreras snapped his briefcase shut. “You are experienced enough, Agent Fox, to know you don’t have a chance of taking the diamond and sapphire from me. You are unarmed. You have no possible weapon at your disposal nor means of escape. My men would shoot you down before you get twenty yards down that pier.”

“
There is that,” he said, “and the fact that you have the means to quickly distribute the antidote. You have made me persona non grata in the Bureau. It will take me days just to convince them that this crazy story is true.”

“
My international network is ready to unleash the poison, or distribute the antidote, at my command,” said Contreras. “Those two envelopes on the bar.” He leaned forward, smiling. He looked smug. “One is for each of you. Each contains a number to a one million dollar Swiss bank account. All you need is the proprietary access code, which I shall give to you when you give me the gems.”

Braydon downed the Scotch. It didn’t even begin to dull the pain. The slash from the whip throbbed across the back of his shoulders. He set his glass on the bar, his blood smearing the cut crystal. He took the towel Adam had placed on the bar. He wrapped it around his right hand and grasped the shoulder strap of Christa’s backpack. She gripped onto the strap, stepping back, trying to yank it from his grasp. He looked at her. “Give me the pack, Christa,” he said.

Her expression of betrayal hurt him more than any of his wounds. “You can’t give him the stones,” she said. “You can’t trust him.”

“
I’m asking you to trust me,” he said. “Remember. We learned, together, from Seneca. We survived the trap in Saint Patrick’s. We’ll survive this.” He didn’t dare say aloud the Seneca quote in Latin. Contreras might recognize it. He had to trust in Christa’s brilliant mind, and in their experiences together. After the events of the past two days, she knew better than anyone.
The outward appearances of things are deceiving.

He pulled the pack forcefully off her shoulder. He unzipped the main compartment, and extracted the silver box. He faced Contreras. “I wondered,” he said, “what one of the richest men in the world would pay for these.” He opened the box, swiveled it around, and showed Contreras the contents. The five sacred stones shimmered in the black velvet. “Make it two million for each of us,” he said. “And throw in this yacht as a bonus. We could live pretty well on this Flying Carpet until this all blows over.”

Contreras leaned forward, his mouth agape. He licked his lips hungrily. A man like him, he’d want to make this moment last, prove that he was in control of his lust, and everyone else. “You are hardly in a position to negotiate, Agent Fox,” he said. “Now that I know for sure that you have all five stones here, I can simply kill you.”

“
You still need to find the Breastplate,” said Braydon. “We know how to find the temple. You’re looking in the wrong place.”

“
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, Fox,” said Contreras. “I know about the armillary sphere, and Tristan de Luna’s map.”

Braydon snapped the silver box shut, jammed it back into the pack, and zipped the compartment closed. “Dubler,” he muttered. He expected as much when Dubler didn’t meet them at the airport. He would like to believe that Contreras took Dubler under duress, forced him to talk, but he knew better.

“
Mister Dubler came to me to save you, Professor Devlin.” Contreras sipped his Scotch like a cat swallowing the canary. “Now you have the chance to save him. Bring me the gems, Fox.”

“
Don’t do it, Braydon. Daniel wouldn’t have betrayed us unless he was near death.”

Contreras grinned. “That statement I cannot refute.”

Christa stepped closer to the bar, fists clenched. “He’ll kill Daniel once we give him the gems,” she said.

“
Mister Dubler will most certainly be dead,” Contreras said. Contreras tensed his shoulders. The two guards stiffened, their hands moving to their guns, their eyes on Christa.

Braydon swung Christa’s pack over his left shoulder, on top of his pack. “Looks like you’ve got us in checkmate,” he said. She was drawing attention to herself, and off him, too well. He picked up the bottle of Scotch with his good hand, and clutched his glass with his hand wrapped in the towel. He made his way towards Contreras, casually pouring himself another Scotch as he skirted to the back of the teak dining table by the window, more importantly, on the opposite side of the cabin from Christa.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Christa lunge across the bar, reaching for Adam’s gun. In one, swift movement, he jammed the pointy silver spout of the bottle into the window. With a crash, the safety glass shattered. A torrent of small crystals rained to the floor. Braydon dropped his glass. He thrust himself forward, leading with his towel-wrapped hand. He dove through the broken window to the starboard deck. He rolled and tucked onto the fiberglass deck, staying low, behind the cabin wall. The meathead bodyguard with the Uzi let loose, accomplishing nothing more than shattering the remaining shards of glass and everyone’s eardrums.

Braydon could barely hear Contreras shouting at the guy to cease and desist. Braydon was in position by the time the bad guys scrambled onto the deck to flank him. The thug with the Uzi was to the stern. The guy with the Glock to the bow. Contreras was behind the man with the Glock, holding Christa in a chokehold. Adam decided not to join the party, probably hiding behind the bar thinking it’s all a bad trip.

The side decking was narrow, just enough for one person to walk comfortably the length of the boat. Braydon stood, holding Christa’s pack over the railing, dangling it above the water. “One step closer and the pack goes overboard,” said Braydon.

Contreras tightened his hold on Christa’s neck. For a pudgy guy, he was strong. “Then I would be forced to break Professor Devlin’s neck,” he said. “And cancel my offer of employment.”

“
Release her, and I’ll toss you the pack. The five stones are in it.”

“
You can forget about your signing bonus,” said Contreras.

“
I figured if I traded this pack for those two envelopes, all I’d be signing is our death warrants,” he said. “But I do trust you to do one thing, get that antidote. A guy like you won’t stop at being one of the richest men in the world. You need to be on top. Once your pharmaceutical company is the only one manufacturing that antidote, you’ll have unmatched power and influence on a global scale.”

Contreras grinned. “It is a shame that you don’t trust me,” he said. “You would make such a companionable number two in my budding empire.” He released his chokehold on Christa. She sucked in air, rubbed her neck, stepped away.

“
Jump over the side, Christa” Braydon said. “And swim for the staircase under the pier.”

“
I’m not leaving you,” she croaked out.

Contreras forcefully shoved her over. She screamed in surprise, and splashed into the water. Braydon recoiled his arm to toss the pack to Contreras. Then, he twisted, flinging the pack into the water as far from the pier as he could throw it. He dove into the water, the cold stabbing him with a thousand needles. He clawed to the surface, sputtered for air, and pierced through the water in a racer’s freestyle after Christa, his pack scraping excruciatingly against his wound. The bang of weapon fire came from the thug with the Glock. Bullets slit and zinged into the water to either side of him. “Forget them!” shouted Contreras. “Get that pack before it sinks.”

Braydon twisted around as he swam. The thugs dropped their firearms and dove into the water, fully clothed. They raced for the pack, surface diving to grab it as it sunk beneath the waves.

Christa had reached the staircase. She helped him out of the water. They were both shivering, just this side of hypothermic.